Discussion Director
Today your job is to be the
discussion director. You will come up with questions that the group
will discuss about this part of the book. Be sure to form questions about
parts of the reading that you feel are important. Be able to tell
the group WHY you feel this way. You will come up with:
1) Where and when does the story take place?
Answer: 2.5 miles from town on the banks of Plum Creek about 1870. p. 1 par. 4
Cause/Effect
2) Tell three things that happened in this section and give the reasons why it happened.
- Laura and Mary will start going to school in town. This happened
because Ma said that little girls who were almost 8 years old should be
learning to read or write.
- Laura and Mary were embarrassed once they reached the schoolhouse
on Monday morning. They were embarrassed because their dresses were
shorter than the girls who lived in town and they did not have a slate
to work on. p. 13 par. 4
p.19. par. 5
- Laura almost slaps Nellie Oleson. The reason this happened
was because Nellie had grabbed Laura's long braids and jerked them very
hard. She was pulled down to the ground. She was very angry
but did not slap her because she knew it was not the right thing to do.
p. 29 par. 1-4
Prediction
What do you predict will happen to Laura in the next section?
I think that Laura will not be able to control herself and get back at Nellie. She will get in trouble with her teacher and her parents.
MC/EOG
Passage Picker
Today your job is to be the Passage Picker. You will pick important passages from the pages we have read. You will tell the group why you feel this passage is important and help the group discuss it. For this section choose 4 passages from the following reasons:
Descriptive
Page 5 He sat - dark hair.
This passage gives the reader a very detailed description of the creek that Laura and her family lived next to. The reader can hear the creek as they read this passage.
What are some other words that Laura could have used to describe the creek?
Answer: Babbling and rippling. These words tell how the water moves and what it sounds like.
Authors purpose: to describe
Historical
Page 30-31 "Uncle John- around her
This passage is a song that school children used to sing during recess. It is historical because it shows how children used to act at school on the prairie.
What are some of the items that they could send Uncle John since he is sick in bed?
Answer: They could send him a piece of pie, a piece of cake, apple, and dumplings.
Authors purpose: to inform
Character Sketcher
Today your job is character sketcher. Your job is to find interesting traits about a character from this section of reading. You will find 3 words that describe the character. For each word, or trait, you will give the proof, or example (including page and paragraph). Next, you will tell one of your character's goals, or what the character wants to do in this section. Then you will find one of the character's problems in the section and tell the solution or possible solution to the problem. Finally, you will illustrate your character.
Your character today is: Laura
Traits and Proof
1) p.12 par. 3
daring- because she has not even met the children at the school
house and she tells them they sound like chickens.
2) p. 20 par. 1
proud- when she is learning to read. She had been having
problems, but now it all seemed to make sense to her.
3) p. 23 all
angry- when she and Mary went to the store to buy a slate and
Nellie was rude to them. Nellie's father did not punish them at all
like Laura thought they should have been.
Goal
Laura's goal is to go to school to learn to read, write and do math. She did not want to go at first but now that she is she wants to do her best, even with some of the obstacles she is facing.
Problem:
Laura's problem is that she has started going to school. At school she is faced with many problems academically and socially.
Solution:
Laura studies hard and works on her reading and writing. Laura
keeps her cool when Nellie and others are mean to her. She does not
fight back.
Word Wizard
Your job today is word wizard. You will take the four words given and look them up in the reading. Then look up the word in the dictionary. Using the context clues from the reading write down, in your own words, the definition of the word. Write down the correct part of speech. Next either write down a question and answer about the word for your group to answer or a sentence using your word wizard word. Finally, make your Word Wizard card.
sprigged p.7 par. 1
jumble p. 11 par. 1
snipes p. 13 par. 3
slate p. 18 par. 1
jumble
Off in one direction came a jumble of children's voices.
Noun
--state of confusion; without order
The audience was in a state of jumble before the play started.
snipes
Then a boy with red hair and freckles yelled "Snipes yourselves! Snipes!
Long-legged snipes!"
Noun
-- slender billed birds usually of the same family as sandpipers
When the boy called the girl a snipe, he meant that she had skinny
legs like a bird.
Connector
Your job today is Connector. You are going to connect the part of the book the group is reading, to the outside world. The question to focus on today is:
When I started school I was very sad. I felt a lot like Laura
did. I just wanted to stay at home with my Mom, sisters, and my pets.
I thought that life was perfectly fine and that I did not need to go to
school. When my parents took me to school the first day, I cried.
I thought that would convince them to take me home. I did not work.
I was so glad that I was not the only student to cry. My teacher
was very understanding. She made us all feel welcome. She gave
those of us that were sad a little extra attention. By the time the
first week of school was over, I loved it. We did not have any mean
kids like Nellie. We had such a fun year and I made many new friends.
When it was time for my sister to start school the next year, I thought
I was an expert and told her everything she needed to know. School
was fun for both of us then.